The headline result is that two-thirds of faculty are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. The fine print is that satisfaction varies greatly by specialty. The happiest folks in the hospital are the dermatologists, and the least happy are the anesthesiologist. Significantly, faculty in general internal medicine are much more likely to be satisfied with work than faculty in medicine subspecialties.

While the survey cannot reveal the reasons behind these differences, it can point to a strong correlation between job satisfaction and retention. This gives us motivation to conduct further research on what makes a clinical faculty member feel supported. The findings will help reduce turnover at academic medical centers.